Mass Effect: Remnants
by reix
Summary: The Reaper War ended with the the races that were united against the Reapers victorious. Shepard has lived on Rannoch for the six years since then with his family, but something will soon call him back into action. A group of soldiers in a remote outpost are mysteriously attacked. The soldiers know they have to escape the outpost to warn the galaxy of the approaching threat.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is a sequel to my story "Mass Effect 3: The Final Push." That story was meant to be a one-shot, but then this idea popped into my head. In the previous story I ended up rolling with the now debunked Indoctrination Theory. Shepard, Tali, and Garrus went into the Conduit and confronted the Illusive Man. Garrus died in the confrontation and afterwards Shepard went to live with Tali on Rannoch. They ended up having a son who they named Garrus in honor of him.

This Shepard is Paragon, has a Space pre-service history, is a War Hero, and romanced Tali.

The story picks up with two squads of soldiers stationed in a remote military outpost.

**Prologue Part 1**

**Squad Alpha**  
Captain Henry Zhan  
Sergeant Dean Weathers  
Corporal Katherine Richards  
Corporal John Nathers  
Private Kanami Yamaida  
Private Ethin Tavarez  
Private Khalid Baras  
Private Timothy King

**Squad Bravo  
**Lieutenant Carth Hanson**  
**Sergeant Jacob Aragon  
Corporal Jack Mathison  
Corporal Gerald Heinzman  
Corporal Lilia Bowlman  
Private Alessandra Conti  
Private Percy Tallwood  
Private Lionel Cherkov

**Planet Binthu, 6 Years After the Reaper War**

He felt something calling out to him… it felt very distant… it felt like it was coming from very far away. A child appeared in front of him. The child was made of light. It seemed to look at him with piercing eyes.

"Welcome Jack Mathison. I've been waiting for you."

The voice sounded familiar. There seemed to be a faint drone in the background that was comforting somehow.

With a start he woke up from the sleep he was in, and "he" was Corporal Jack Mathison of the Alliance army. He was stationed at a small military outpost on the godforsaken rock that is Binthu. There didn't seem to be any reason to be stationed at here. He simply was, and he didn't question it. It was just his job. There were 16 men (and some nice women too) with Captain Henry Zhan in charge. Mathison bunked with Private Percy Tallwood who was the quietest guy Mathison had ever met.

"Hey… Mathison."

Mathison turns over and sees Tallwood sitting in the chair at the desk. He was staring at Mathison. It was unnerving.

"What?"

"I feel like something bad is going to happen."

Mathison didn't respond right away, "You know… I kind of feel the same way."

Tallwood then looked away. A second later he got up and walked out of the room. Mathison turned back over and stared at the low roof over his head. If you were to sit up too quickly you would get lump on the head for your mistake. Mathison managed to break the habit after about a week. Mathison decided he wasn't gaining anything by staying in bed and decided to get up. He quickly dressed and walked out of the room.

When he walked into the mess hall he saw Corporal Katherine Richards and Sergeant Dean Weathers sitting at one table, and Privates Lionel Cherkov and Ethin Tavarez at another. Mathison sat at the table with Richards and Weathers.

"Hey people," Mathison greeted them.

"Hey, Jack." Richards responded.

"How's it going, Jack?" Weathers said.

Mathison soon inserted himself into the conversation and some minutes passed, and then Sergeant Jacob Aragon walked into the room.

"Alright! Shift change you slackers! Get to your posts!"

With that everyone in the mess room got up from their seats and made their way back to their rooms. It was time to get outfitted for the day's work. It was all rather boring. Nothing happened in this remote outpost.

It was like the Alliance said, "We'll have an outpost out here because we feel like it!"

Corporal Gerald Heinzman came and stood next to Mathison.

"So Mathison, vhat are you going to do for shore leave?" Heinzman asked.

"I don't know. Go kill a few people, burn down a few establishments, and revive the Reapers. Yep, sounds like a good day's work," Mathison replied.

"You could have just said you didn't vant to tell instead of being sarcastic. I'm going to help with rebuilding projects back on Earth. Vant to help with that?"

"Not really. I have better things to do."

"Really? Care to share?"

"Not really, ketchup-man…"

Heinzman rolled his eyes and went back to his own business. A few more hours passed when suddenly a boom reverberated throughout the base. It felt like it came from the other side of the base. The loudspeaker then came on.

"Alert, alert! This is not a drill. Outpost Hotel ZX3516 Alpha is under attack. All personnel to battle stations!"

Mathison was assigned to a turret situated on the north-east wall. He rushed towards there and brought up the interface and got all systems online. He opened up a communication link with the rest of his squad. The person who Mathison worked with most of the time, and the person who he felt he could be most open with, was Alessandra Conti. She came rushing up and flashed him a smile. He returned it.

"Everyone, squad check-in!" Sergeant Aragon said over the line.

Everyone checked in, with Percy Tallwood being a little late. Aragon let him slide for once. Something must really be wrong. An image was pulled up on the nearby monitor. Shocked silence permeated the base. It was a Reaper… It was surrounded by ships of various sizes and designs. All of the ships were from known species. They had just appeared out of nowhere.

"_I've come home, Jack." _A voice boomed in his head. It seemed to drown out his other thoughts.

"Gah!" Jack yelled out as he collapsed to the ground.

He had to get this, this thing out of his head. He knew why this was happening to him and not the others. He had been held in a Reaper prison camp. Obviously there was indoctrination after-effects. Alessandra's voice brought him back.

"-alright? Are you alright, Jack?" she said.

"I'm fine, Alessa," Jack grunted out as he stood back up.

"Troopships coming in! They're trying to land, open fire!" Aragon ordered.

Jack stumbled to the turret control and opened fire. He brought down 2 dropships before the turret started taking fire. He took down another one before a missile came roaring and blew up the area to Jack's left. Shrapnel sizzled against his shields and pinged against his armor.

"It's not safe anymore, Jack! We need to retreat further into the base." Alessa yelled out.

Jack nodded and stepped away from the turret. The incoming fire at that area soon engulfed the whole section in flame. It was a good thing they had left. They stopped at a weapons locker and picked up M-9 Avengers. In the years after the Reaper War, there has been an explosion of weapon, armor, and shield advancements by looking at Reaper technology. The M-9 Avenger packed 15% more power than the M-8 Avenger, and was 20% more accurate. A semi-automatic feature was also worked in.

Jack and Alessa rushed down the hallway and soon heard gunfire. They saw Captain Zhan behind cover with Corporal John Nathers trying to get a signal on the radio. Captain Zhan sees Jack and Alessa and ushers them over. As Jack gets closer he sees the rest of Alpha squad across the hallway, pouring fire down the hallway at the main entrance where enemies of all species seemed to be pouring in. He could see Sergeant Dean Weathers and Private Timothy King lying dead on the ground

"Alright you two. All communications have been shut down. I'm assigning Bravo Squad to go and secure the hangar. Alpha squad shall hold this position and slowly retreat to buy you time. We'll get to the hangar once you all have the ship ready to go! Understood?"

"Understood, sir!" Jack and Alessa said in unison.

Jack and Alessa went down the hallway leading towards the hangar. They soon find the rest of Bravo Squad, excluding Lionel Cherkov. Corporal Gerald Heinzman explained that he was caught in an explosion from an incoming missile.

Lieutenant Carth Hanson then directed everyone to move out.

**Planet Rannoch, 6 Years After the Reaper War**

A familiar looking child made of light appeared before Shephard.

"Hello Shephard. It has been awhile."

The rest of the dream was trapped in a fog. Retired Commander John Shepard couldn't remember anything as he picked himself up from the bed. Shepard looked over to the other side of the bed and saw Tali was already up. Shepard walked out into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Garrus was already eating. It would be his birthday in a week. He would be five years old. Shepard thought he would take him to see the Citadel.

"Where's your mom, Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"Mommy is outside talking to im-por-tant person," Garrus responded.

"Ah."Garrus had a habit of sounding out words that were big to him.

Maybe the Admirals were bugging Tali to get involved in the government again. They never seemed to give up. Well, Tali could handle it, time to eat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Prologue Part 2**

**Squad Alpha**  
Captain Henry Zhan  
Sergeant Dean Weathers (KIA)  
Corporal Katherine Richards  
Corporal John Nathers  
Private Kanami Yamaida  
Private Ethin Tavarez  
Private Khalid Baras  
Private Timothy King (KIA)

**Squad Bravo  
**Lieutenant Carth Hanson**  
**Sergeant Jacob Aragon  
Corporal Jack Mathison  
Corporal Gerald Heinzman  
Corporal Lilia Bowlman  
Private Alessandra Conti  
Private Percy Tallwood  
Private Lionel Cherkov (KIA)

**Planet Binthu, 6 Years After the Reaper War**

Somehow the Reaper soldiers had found a backdoor into the base and they were blocking Squad Bravo's progress. Luckily, these Reaper soldiers acted mindless and often didn't take cover, making it easy for the squad to pick them off. They were no match in terms of skills when against Alliance soldiers. In numbers however, the Reaper soldiers were far superior. Apparently Squad Alpha had had to fall back once already.

In a brief lull in the action, Heinzman spoke up," How is securing the ship going to help us get off the planet? Ve'll probably just be shot down the second we get in the air."

"It's our only chance. It's do that or die here," Hanson replied.

Bowlman, who was on point, peeked around the corner. She signaled there were enemies down the hall. Hanson took out a grenade and hurled it down the hallway. It exploded and Bowlman burst around the corner, pouring fire downrange. She was almost to the other side of the hallway when a biotic attack picked her up and hurled into the wall, crumpling the wall. Bowlman's body fell to the ground with her head lolling to the side. She was dead.

The smoke from the grenade had cleared. It was made apparent that there was biotic shield that had been erected. It had blocked the grenade blast and the gunfire. Whoever was generating the field was very powerful.

"Mathison, take care of them!" Hanson ordered.

Jack Mathison was the resident biotic. He was quite powerful apparently. For a human an asari had added once. Mathison came around the corner and hurled some biotic energy at the shield. It didn't budge. He then felt a powerful force start to push him. They were going to do the same thing they had done to Bowlman.

Mathison slowed the push so he was only stunned when he hit the wall. Hanson came around the corner with everyone else and just poured as much fire as they could at the biotic shield. The biotic had to concentrate on the shield and couldn't attack anymore, but instead gunfire roared down the hall. It tore into Jacob Aragon dropping him instantly. From the way he was shot it was apparent he was dead.

These Reaper soldiers weren't the mindless drones they had encountered earlier. They were smart. Mathison was the last one up and he caught a glimpse of the biotic. It was an Asari with a scar running diagonally from the upper right of her head down to her jaw line. The right side of her face seemed to have glowing lines as if it was circuitry, and her right eye glowed green. Their eyes locked, and she grinned at Mathison. It wasn't malicious or anything. It was more just saying, "I see you."

Mathison was then around the corner. He quickly set up a small mine and then rushed on. They were at the door to the hangar. Hanson tapped in the code into the keypad on the door and they all rushed in. Mathison and Heinzman kept an eye on the door as the others prepped the ship. Hanson contacted Zhan to let him know to get over to the hangar.

Mathison's mine was distantly heard going off. Mathison and Heinzman then tensed up ready to fire at any moment. Conti and Hanson came back out to help hold the door. Tallwood was the best pilot they had at the moment, so he was staying in the ship. More Reaper troops rounded the bend, but it was soon apparent they were the mindless drones they had encountered earlier. The Asari they had all been dreading was nowhere to be seen.

They continued to hold the hangar as Reaper troops continued to come in. There seemed to be no end to them. Through another door Squad Alpha came rushing through. Captain Zhan, Private Yamaida, and Private Tavarez were the only ones remaining in Squad Alpha. As they made their way to the ship Private Tavarez was shot in midstep and he went sprawling. Captain Zhan stopped to help. Zhan dropped his gun and picked Tavarez up in a full carry and rushed towards the ship. Heinzman popped a few smoke grenades to cover them the soldiers as they were getting on the ship. Mathison felt a few shots sizzle on his shields as he rushed into the ship's airlock.

That was close. His shields had almost been taken out. Heinzman then helped Tavarez to the sick bay. Zhan rushed to the bridge and took control as pilot. He was far more qualified than Tallman now that he was here.

"Alright everyone. This is going to be ride through hell." Zhan said grimly.

**Planet Rannoch, 6 Years After the Reaper War**

Tali came back into the house looking worried.

"What's wrong, Tali."

"Ah, um. Come with me."

Shepard followed Tali to the next room.

"The Geth want to see you Shepard. They said it's urgent. They've only told the Admirals a little apparently, but they're already very worried. The Geth refuse to say anything else until you go to see them."

Shepard frowned, "Hmm… alright. I'll go see them right now."

"Alright. Admiral Shala'Raan is waiting outside to take you there."

Shepard goes outside and sees the waiting transport.

"Shepard. It is good to see you."

"Why are the Geth so concerned, Admiral?"

"They would not tell us. Please, get in, and we'll go to meet with them.

Shepard got in the transport and they were soon off. In a very distant place in the back of his mind, Shepard seemed to feel as if a weight is starting to press down on him, but he can't really identify it's presence. Not yet anyway.


End file.
